Neural stimulation has been proposed as a therapy for a number of conditions. Examples of neural stimulation therapies include neural stimulation therapies for respiratory problems such as sleep disordered breathing, blood pressure control such as to treat hypertension, cardiac rhythm management, myocardial infarction and ischemia, heart failure (HF), epilepsy, depression, pain, migraines, eating disorders and obesity, and movement disorders.
Some neural stimulation therapies stimulate the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Examples of ANS therapies include, but are not limited to, therapies that stimulate the vagus nerve, or therapies that stimulate the carotid sinus nerve, or therapies that stimulate the spinal cord or spinal nerves. For example, previously-proposed cardiovascular therapies use vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy to lower heart rate, which has long been considered beneficial to HF patients, for example, based on the belief that a lower heart rate will reduce the oxygen demand of the heart, and improve profusion and work efficiency of the failing heart. VNS may also be referred to as vagal stimulation therapy (VST).